Irritating Boy Downstairs
by WardenN7
Summary: A slight frown tugged at Hinami's face as she jolted awake. The beeping sounds was not something new in her life, and she struggled to close her eyes and keep them shut as she snuggled back into her cocoon of blankets. She would be fine as long as she ignored the alarm clock. — AyaHina. AU.


_Beep. Beep. Beep._

A slight frown tugged at Hinami's face as she jolted awake. The beeping sounds was not something new in her life, and she struggled to close her eyes and keep them shut as she snuggled back into her cocoon of blankets. She would be fine as long as she ignored the alarm clock.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The frown turned into a rather unpleasant grimace. She didn't ask for this. All she wanted was an uninterrupted sleep. She wouldn't mind being woken up from an alarm clock if it was actually _hers, _but considering that it belonged to some guy who lived in the lower apartments, she did, in fact, mind. _A lot._

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Really, how hard was it to turn off an alarm clock?! She ignored the continuous beeping when she first moved in because she was new to the apartments and felt too shy to face her lower neighbor, but this was getting ridiculous! It was the first time it had gone off for longer than fifteen minutes, and she was just so…_done _with this alarm clock and its owner.

As a college student who also worked, she did not have time for this. She wanted her much-needed and well-deserved rest. And she was going to get it, even if she had to give the guy downstairs a good tongue-lashing.

Huffing, the brunette exited from bed and made her way to the door, grabbing her bath robe on her way out. Tying it together expertly, she made her way out the door, not caring if she didn't even brush her hair. This guy needed to see the full extent of what his alarm clock was doing to her.

Hinami had never honestly met her neighbor from downstairs. She never even really met her neighbor who lived across her. They had exchanged greetings once, but that was the extent of their relationship. Maybe it wasn't very "neighborly" of her, but Hinami was juggling too much on her plate at the moment to worry about whether she was friends with someone in the apartments when she spent most of her time studying, working, or sleeping.

A rather lonely way to live, yes, but Hinami didn't mind. It helped keep her priorities straight.

The fact that she had never met him before - _him. _all she knew of him was that he was a boy - was not going to deter her from her mission. She was going to march down the floor, knock on his door, and demand that he turn off his dumb alarm clock. Maybe she'd even ask for an explanation while she was at it.

Softly making her way down the steps (she was much too tired to stomp her way down, she decided), Hinami planned what she was going to say to the irritating boy living downstairs. She didn't think she had it in her to yell at him, but maybe her angry scowl and unpleasant bed-head would get the message across. Maybe. Hopefully.

As Hinami made it down the last of the steps she began to slow her pace. Maybe…maybe the irritating bow downstairs didn't deserve her anger to be directed at him? She knew absolutely nothing about his personal life. Maybe he works late just like she does? Maybe he's going through a tough situation which caused him to sleep through his alarm clock?

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Oh God…

_Oh. God._

_The beeping was so much worse - so much louder - downstairs._

All of her tired and pent-up rage was inflamed once more. If it was unbearable upstairs then she couldn't imagine the complete Hell that everyone on the same floor as him was experiencing. Mustering up the full of her anger, she loudly slammed her fist on his door three times before pulling away.

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

No answer.

Hinami practically growled at the door in front of her. Raising her fist again she knocked on his door, yelling out, "_Excuse me!_" as loud as she possibly could. She didn't notice when the other apartment doors slightly opened, the people living inside them peeking out to see what the commotion was about.

Before she could raise her fist one more time, a very loud curse could be heard from inside Irritating Boy Downstairs' apartment. There was a crash, followed by more cursing, until the incessant _beeping _of the alarm clock suddenly dissipated. The lack of noise made Hinami feel like she could have died happily in that moment.

A set of footsteps could be heard at the door before it opened quite suddenly. Hinami jumped back in unexpected fright and was met with…a chest. _What?_

She couldn't believe this. Irritating Boy Downstairs was taller than her. _Much taller._

"What d'ya want?" a tired voice muttered, and Hinami begrudgingly tilted her head to look him in the eyes. Irritating Boy Downstairs was rubbing his own eyes in sleepiness, yet a scowl was covering his features, like _she _was the one who had disturbed _his _rest. Unbelievable.

She glared at him for a few seconds, and apparently that was much too long for him, since he prompted her to speak again with a gruff, "did you not hear me?"

Her fists clenched, Hinami growled out, "I heard you just fine, thank you. Actually, all of us have heard you _really well_ for some time now." She gestured to the people behind her who were continuing to poke their heads out the door as an example. At being called out, many of them quickly fled back into their apartments, but Hinami didn't notice.

Irritating Boy Downstairs looked down at the short girl below him, then to his remaining neighbors. With a frown that spoke endless bounds of irritation, he looked back to Hinami and raised his brow up in silence. It seemed to mean something, but since Hinami was never able to raise just one eyebrow, she was unable to tell what he was trying to convey to her.

"Sorry, but I don't speak your special, silent eyebrow talk," Hinami said, forcing the automatic pout of dissapointment away because _darn it, she still couldn't raise just one eyebrow_, and both of Irritating Boy Downstairs' eyebrows raised in obvious surprise at her statement. He seemed torn between looking at her like she was stupid, or laughing at her. None of those options sounded nice.

"Look," Hinami sighed, raising a hand to her head in aggravation. "Your stupid alarm clock is really loud, and a lot of times it takes you forever to turn it off, but this time it's been going off for like…over thirty minutes. Please, _please, _I'm begging you: have more respect for your neighbors and the people around you by turning off your alarm clock at the proper time."

Yeah, good. That was good. Stern, yet straight to the point. Professional, but not too snobby. She got that one really good.

She relished in her small victory for a moment before she heard laughter. Stiffening, Hinami turned to face Irritating Boy Downstairs, and was surprised to see him laughing. For a moment she thought he was laughing at her, but his face didn't show signs of condescension. He looked…amused. Whether at the situation or at Hinami herself, the poor girl couldn't tell.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you loud and clear," Irritating Boy Downstairs smirked at her, and Hinami frowned at him in return. "Which is actually really surprising considering how short you are."

Hinami's eyes widened slightly in surprised. She struggled in finding a response to defend herself with. She knew he was deflecting her anger with sarcasm, but that didn't stop her from falling into the trap.

"I-I'm not _that _short, jerk!"

"Sure you are. Actually, I didn't know pre-teens were allowed to go walking by themselves. A ghoul may come out and get you, y'know?"

"Shut up! Ghouls are just myths!"

By now all of the neighbors had gone back into their apartments to continue on their morning routines. Hinami wished she could join them, but she couldn't allow Irritating Boy Downstairs to beat her. Beat her in what even she couldn't say, but she knew there was _something_ going on._  
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"I'm not short!"

"You really are, though."

"Well, you're too tall!"

"Y'know, that's generally looked at as a bonus by girls."

"Well, it is. Most of the time…but you're, like, freakishly tall, so you're not attractive in the slightest!"

"That hurts my heart. Really. Why don't you just rip it all out while you're at it."

Hinami rolled her eyes. His usage of sarcasm was, to be quite honest, overused. She was not amused.

But as she looked up at Irritating Boy Downstairs (who was really living up to her given name), Hinami couldn't help but feel a rush of heat go through her body. He _wasn't _freakishly tall. He was…a good kind of tall. And seeing his hair, messy with a bedhead just like hers, gave her the strongest urge to run her hands through it, just once. It looked soft.

She wouldn't lie by saying his face was ugly either. He was, in general standards, very good-looking, and now that Hinami was having a glimpse of him now, anger long gone thanks to his distraction, she couldn't help but stare for a moment. She noticed that he was wearing a tank top, and her eyes travelled quickly to his arms.

_It should be illegal for arms to look that good._

_Shut up, Hinami! You're just tired, is all._

She was brought back to reality by a hand gripping her shoulder and shaking her back and forth.

"Hey, neighbor. You in there? I don't wanna be responsible if you just suddenly pass out in front of my apartment."

"O-oh, um, yeah, no, I'm fine. Th-thank you. For listening to my request."

"It wasn't a problem," he answered, shrugging his shoulders to show it really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Well, um…I should probably go now," Hinami muttered. "I have some sleep to catch up on. And I swear, if you don't start turning off your alarm clock as soon as it goes off, I'll-"

"Yeah, yeah, I already said that I got you," Irritating Boy Downstairs muttered, turning his head away from the girl in front of him. "You'll leave me alone now, right?"

"Right."

That seemed to be the end of that conversation. As she turned the other way, ready to climb back into bed, she felt…disappointed, in a sense. She really shouldn't have expected more from their interactions. All she did was get angry at him, and he just sassed her in return.

Still, a part of her felt like there was something missing.

Without knowing why, she spun around quickly, rushing to Irritating Boy Downstairs' door.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

She managed to catch him at the right moment. He opened the door again and peeked out at Hinami, raising his brow once more in question.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, no, I just…I was wondering if, maybe, you could tell me your name?"

"My name?"

"Yeah. You see, if we ever see each other again for some reason, I don't wanna end up calling you 'Irritating Boy Downstairs', you know?"

A smirk fell on his lips. A smug smirk. It rubbed at her the wrong way, but at the same time, it excited her.

"Irritating Boy Downstairs, huh? That's what you've called me in your head these past few weeks?"

Hinami tried her best to hide the embarrassed flush on her cheeks before responding with, "You _are _irritating, though!"

"Heh…yeah, whatever you say. My name is Kirishima Ayato. You can just call me Ayato, though."

"Ayato. Yeah, okay. I think I got it. Um, my name is Fueguchi Hinami!"

"I'll try to remember that. And, well, it's been nice meeting you, Hinami, but like you, I think I'm gonna try to catch up on some sleep."

"Oh, Okay. Well, goodbye, I guess."

Goodbye made it sound so final. She didn't _want _it to be final though. Sure, she may have a small crush on him from a physical standpoint, but that was small, and really didn't mean anything. She could get over that kind of stuff easily. But she couldn't deny the part of herself that _wanted _a friend, a companion, someone who she could confide in.

And she felt like he could be a good friend. A little rough around the edges, sure, but that didn't matter, because no matter how much she found his smug attitude annoying, she still felt a connection with him. It was small, but it was still there, and it had all the potential to grow.

Maybe it was because, secretly, he was just as lonely as she was?

Maybe they could fill that void together. Hinami knew that she daydreamed far too often for her own good, that the fictional world of her beloved books hardly ever fit into the reality of the real world, but she felt like this could be more than a dream, that she could make it into a reality. Maybe she could find a friend in Kirishima Ayato.

"Yeah, well, I'll see you around, Hinami," and when she looked up at him, he was not smirking, but instead smiling at her, all kinds of soft and gentle, and it filled her with hope.

"See you around, Ayato!"

They both left each other, returning to the peaceful tranquility of their apartments, but they both knew, deep down, that it wouldn't be the last time they saw each other.


End file.
